


the troublemaker in question

by oshit



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oshit/pseuds/oshit
Summary: “I diagnose your Axew with ‘Champion Leon Syndrome’,” Raihan intones sagely. “Her symptoms include: being your pokemon and taking too much after you."
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 154





	the troublemaker in question

Leon throws his front door open the instant he hears footsteps stop in front of it.

“Uh,” Raihan says, startled, “hey? Were you waiting right there?”

“Maybe,” Leon says, ushering Raihan in. “Come inside, come on.” 

He kicks the door closed, his hands otherwise occupied. Axew sits cradled in Leon’s arm, nuzzling into his shoulder. She looks content and happy, relaxed expression at odds with the state of her tusks. The right one is chipped, a chunk of it missing from the tip, and her left one is nearly gone entirely, as if cut cleanly from the side of her mouth. 

“This the troublemaker in question?” Raihan asks, bending forward to get a closer look at Axew. His eyebrows jump when he gets a good look at where her tusk has been cleaved.

“Yes.”

There’s a joyful call as Mr. Rime pokes his head out of Leon’s kitchen, waving his cane when he spots Raihan. Charizard, curled up on a massive, wooly bed next to Leon’s couch peeks an eye open and grunts in greeting, tail curling back around him in silent approval of their guest.

Lazily, Dragapult drifts through the living room wall, two of his Dreepy chirping brightly when they catch sight of Raihan. The third Dreepy continues napping undisturbed. 

Leon hadn’t known what to do with the extravagant Wyndon apartment when Rose had slid the keycard into his dazzled, ten year old hands, but at seventeen, he’s sleeping in Wyndon more often than he does in Postwick. The size, once intimidating in its emptiness, is now nothing more than convenient for Leon’s growing team. 

“Full house,” Raihan notes, tone fond; it doesn’t take much for Leon to gauge he’s thinking of his own team. 

“You’d know,” Leon says right back, and Raihan’s eyes crinkle when he smiles. “Can you take a look at her now?”

Raihan warns, “I’m no Nurse Joy,” but nonetheless, he opens his arms and Leon hastily deposits Axew into Raihan’s hold. Axew blinks up at Raihan sweetly. He looks back down at her with visible amusement. 

To be clear, Raihan _is_ right. He isn’t a Nurse Joy or who Leon should technically bring his pokemon to when he has a concern. Rose would certainly be aghast, lamenting Leon passing up Galar’s finest pokemon doctors and specialists. But Raihan had been Leon’s first thought a couple of weeks ago when Axew’s behavior started curving. Dragon experts in Galar are few and far between and Leon has the newly knighted Dragon Tamer of the region only a text away—it’s too tempting of an offer to pass up.

It’s Raihan’s off day, too, if his appearance is anything to go by. A Gible hoodie that Leon’s never seen before, only three pokeballs on his hip, locs in a messy bun. When he blinks at Leon, it’s slow and sleepy; Leon could almost feel bad for calling him out on a Sunday morning if his pokemon weren’t involved.

From the way Axew settles into the crook of Raihan’s arm easily, it wasn’t the wrong decision by any means.

“Nothing’s wrong with her physically,” Leon begins, exasperated. “I took her to get a check up two weeks ago. She’s eating good, tons of activity, sleeps like a Musharna. She hasn’t told me she’s in any pain.” 

Raihan hums. “‘Kay. You’ve had her ‘bout a year, right?” 

Leon nods. Axew is the most recent addition to Leon’s team. Adventurous and looking to expand his team, Leon had roamed the Wild Area, fully permitting himself to get lost in hopes of running into a new partner. He’d been expecting a Haxorus, but it was Axew that stumbled out of the dewy grass on Axew’s Eye that morning, fresh out of a scuffle and mushed berries smeared over her in vibrant red, yellows, and purples, only to spot Leon and charge at him and Charizard with a surprisingly incensed roar. 

Charizard had blocked the shouting tusk pokemon with one claw, but it had been too late; Leon had already fallen in love.

“So,” Raihan drawls, cradling Axew with far too much tenderness, “what’s the problem, then? She’s young and full of energy.” 

Silently, Leon makes a sweeping gesture around him. His penthouse is beyond luxurious, but upon inspection, there’s clear signs of turbulence. 

Vaguely Axew height dents in Leon’s walls, a chunk of Leon’s TV stand taken out—hurriedly filled in with books—sections of furniture torn and ripped. Leon saw Raihan eyeing the damage when he came in.

“I didn’t want to assume,” Raihan offers when Leon looks back at him. “She did all this?”

“And more,” Leon sighs, morose. “You should see the kitchen. Or my room. She took my bedframe down.” 

Axew nuzzles into Raihan’s shoulder, either entirely unaware or completely uncaring of the stress she’s put her trainer through.

“Huh. You mentioned the rest of your team when you texted?” 

He nods stiffly. Leon had returned from a morning jog with Rhyperior just in time to watch Aegislash swing it’s blade down like an executioner’s axe, neatly cleaving Axew’s left tusk away from her. Any Galar news outlet will identify their dauntless champion as fearless, but Aegislash’s blade bearing down on Axew had been so terrifying Leon had genuinely felt faint.

With Aegislash being swiftly recalled back into its ball and Axew looking for all the world like she couldn’t comprehend why Leon was so startled, Leon’s next move was clear: text Raihan.

“I’m not sure, but I think Aegislash has done it before,” Leon confesses. “And Charizard won’t admit it, but I’m pretty sure I caught him using Dragon Claw on her tusks, too.”

From his bed, Charizard huffs quietly, but doesn’t dispute Leon’s suspicion.

“Look at me,” Raihan complains, thumb passing over Axew’s chipped right tusk. Even from where Leon stands, his touch is careful; Axew leans into his hand, thoroughly enjoying the attention. He taps her tusk with a low hum. “Helping the enemy. Let me guess—you’ve started training for this year’s Championship Tournament?”

A beat of silence. “Yeah,” Leon admits, almost sheepish. The tournament was a little over five months off; four months of rest, four months of training was the average recommendation for trainers, but Leon couldn’t do more than a month of ‘rest’ before he got antsy. He could feel his pokemon’s palpable restlessness by the end of the second. 

When he was younger, battling had been about being on the attack. Leon remembers being ten and cutting down any trainer he locked eyes with, fighting his way through each gym leader and into glory. He’d _felt_ unbeatable then; a child’s foolhardy dream forged into reality, him and his pokemon forces of nature. Nothing’s changed, and so has everything; aching every step of the way, Leon has grown into his crown, into Galar’s one and only darling.

He’s defending his title for the seventh time in a row, this year. Even Raihan, for all his gentle demeanor, is looking to take Leon’s throne. Leon’s not stressed about it—but he’s wary. His dream is for Galar’s trainers to be the strongest in the world. Leon will keep pace. 

‘ _Meet Galar’s Boy King_ ’, was the lead headline of _The Wyndon Times_ when Leon usurped a monarch over a decade his senior. He’s not quite ready for Galar to tell him goodbye. 

Raihan doesn’t seem surprised by the admission. “Figured. And Aegislash went for the chop during training?” 

“Yup.”

Rain puckers his lips in thought, swaying on his feet. He’s quiet for so long that it nearly makes Leon anxious.

“Alright, champ, here’s my hypothesis.” Raihan plops down on Leon’s couch, dropping Axew into his lap. He takes her paws in his hands, idly playing with them. “Can’t get a good look at the left, of course, but her right tusk is looking pretty sturdy. In the wild, Axew bash their tusks into trees and rocks ‘n stuff to break them off so they grow back tougher. ‘S how they get strong. She’s looking close to evolving, so her tusks are getting harder to break off, but she wants to hurry it up so you’ll battle with her in the tournament. Hence, destroying everything around her.”

Leon stares at Axew. Raihan dips his head so he can drop a kiss on her little head and she noses up at him.

“And your team isn’t attacking her—she probably told ‘em the situation, and Aegislash was trying to help by cutting her tusk off for her. Charizard, too. Still dangerous, though.”

“Oh,” Leon says, stricken. “But I—I give her plenty of attention?”

“That’s part of your problem. She loves you too much. Dragon babies are needy, aren’t you, you little bugger?” Raihan coos, patting Axew’s tummy. “Aren’t youuuuu?” 

“Ah?” Leon says. Raihan looks up at him, a teasing gleam in his eye.

“I diagnose your Axew with ‘Champion Leon Syndrome’,” Raihan intones sagely. “Her symptoms include: being your pokemon and taking too much after you. Get her something to break her tusks on safely and she’ll stop tearing up everything she can get these naughty little paws on.” 

Leon laughs, some miserable combination of disbelieving and embarrassed. Not ten minutes with Axew and Raihan had identified the problem and solution. He’s a little stunned, both at Raihan’s competence and his own thickness. 

“I—sorry?” Leon mumbles, baffled. “She just wants to evolve faster? That’s why she’s been doing all this?”

Raihan sinks down further into Leon’s couch. “Yeah. You had me fly all the way to Wyndon just to tell you that your Axew is a rowdy little baby,” he tells Leon, his hoodie bunching up around his shoulders. He’s very obviously making himself comfortable. “So. I’m not leaving until you at _least_ feed me.”

Sensing freedom, Axew wriggles out of Raihan’s lap and drops onto Leon’s plush carpet with impressive dexterity. She stares up at Leon with artificial cuteness, blinking those big red eyes at him.

Despite himself, he makes a kissy noise at her. Axew preens; then, with an ambitious step forward, shrieks out a determined warcry, dashing forward to ram her remaining tusk against Leon’s fireplace.

Leon shouts in turn, scrambling after her, scooping her up, but not in time to stop her from putting a sizable crack in the fireplace. Behind him, his phone dings; when he turns, Axew writhing in his grasp, Raihan holds up his phone for Leon to see he has their conversation open.

“Sent you the link to the tusk toy. She’ll be even worse when she evolves into Fraxure, by the way. They’re _so_ fussy.”


End file.
